Opening Day has arrived for Valparaiso softball

SB: Armitage at the helm as Beacons open season at DePaul Dome Tournament this weekend

Lauren Sena has heard the speech plenty of times during her Valparaiso softball career.

Five to be exact.

It’s the speech that comes when a coach lays out their vision for how they’re going to turn the program around.

Sena heard it from Kate Stake during the recruiting process. From Amanda Eberhart once Sena arrived on campus as a freshman in 2021. From Meaggan Pettipiece after she was hired nearly a month into the 2022-23 academic year. From Laney Jones after she took over following Pettipiece’s departure in the middle of last season.

The latest speech came from Mike Armitage, Valparaiso’s first-year coach that was hired away from Minnesota State Moorhead last June. He met with the team shortly after he was hired and he gave a speech.

Sena thought she had heard it all before. Only this time, it was different.